Do you Tweet Your Life on Twitter?

Many people on Twitter talk about everything under the sun, from there day at work, to their personal lives, but is it really safe in regards to the onslaught of identity theft?

In trying to build relationships on Twitter, we can, if not careful drop the ball, whereby someone can take advantage of a seamlessly innocent situation.

Verizon Wireless

A recent commercial that was aired on CBS, NBS and many others, Verizon Wireless created a scenario of a son and daughter, who were concerned about how their parents were using their cell phones, in such a way as to possibly embarrass them, by writing all over there “Wall” or making there whereabouts known on Twitter, by tweeting there exact location.

While innocent as this may seem, anyone who knew the children involved, could see this as an opportunity to steal, or intrude on the family for their own personal gain.

Though this was not the intent of Verizon Wireless, it does raise a few questions, about how our children perceive our actions and how it relates to marketing online via twitter or even facebook.

Here are a few thoughts to ponder while using Twitter or even Facebook for that matter.

1) What am I really trying to say?
2) What will they think about me?
3) Do I really need to say this?

Whether you use Twitter or Facebook for personal or business use, try a different approach to your marketing effort that will engage, build relationship and provide value, without compromising either your business or your personal life.

Watching out for you, one tweet at a time~

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8 Responses to “Do you Tweet Your Life on Twitter?”

People just need to be more responsible when it comes to Internet usage. In these days and times, its very unnecessary and very risky to announce to the world of where you live or what you have in your possession. I remember just last year of a young girl who was a MySpace user. She announced on her profile, her address, real name and such personal information, that caused a deranged lunatic to stalk her to the point that he went to her house and raped and killed her.

Who got the blame? MySpace! It’s not the blame of these websites for stupid actions of their users. Its the sole blame of the user themselves. My two sons who both use MySpace and Facebook, put on their profiles that they live in Bum Fucked Egypt. I told them that if the conversation ever arises of their correct whereabouts, simply say that they live in North Carolina. They do not need to know the correct town, street or even worse, physical address. ABSOLUTELY NO PHONE NUMBERS should be given out. Phone numbers can be traced.

It’s called being responsible and taking precautions when talking to unknown and untrusting people.

Example: I met a friend in a Yahoo chat room in 2001. I had her believing for many years that we lived in Miami Florida. After 7 or so years of talking with her through messengers, she recently learned the truth of my exact town, phone number and mailing address. The reason being was because we became close enough that we began talking over the phone. Then we started sending each other birthday and Christmas cards. NOW, I am invited to her wedding in Ohio next summer.

The moral of my story is – gain the trust before putting your life on the line. (THE INTERNET LINE).

Anything that we post online is there for the world to see. If we are not careful about how we distribute information whether personal or for business, it can and will eventually catch up with us.
Discretion is the better part of valor.

I was actually wondering about this stuff the other day when I thought of how we are socializing online to people we “think” we “know”… what we’re saying about what we’re doing, where we’re going… it’s a weird world out there in that you can REALLY find out anything about anybody these days online. Kinda scary when you think about your ability to trace someone’s social networking footsteps. Sometimes I wonder how easily organizations (business and otherwise) could use our tweets, posts, pictures, etc. to profile each of us for who knows what… hmm…

Just a word, you can get in trouble for what you say within your social networks. Since Google does document tweets too, if something questionable comes up for future or current employers in your name, you could be facing some rough waters.

I actually covered this issue, but more on a blogging level as I had an ordeal with a former employer. Some employers are still not aware of where their rights end and yours begin, so it is important if you have an internet life that you do not talk about your company in a defamatory or libelous manner. As long as you avoid that, you should be fine.

So, in a way, do not be afraid to participate in blogging and social networking. However, use discretion especially if it may effect you professionally later on.

I avoid posting updates that specify that both my spouse and I are out of the house. It’s safer, IMO, to hold off until I come back and then post things like, “[Spouse] and I had a great time at [event] today! Just got home”.

Even if you don’t have anything to sell, you have a marketing message – even if it’s just about “here I am”. IF you are not honed in your marketing message, then it might be a good policy to follow to think about others’ opinions of you before you tweet, blog or post any form of update.

OTOH, if you have strong message and platform, it is absolutely the wrong tack to take. If you don’t stay true to your message, swaying this way or that according to the tide of public opinion, you run the risk of diluting your message and looking foolish.

The bigger a following you have, the greater the risk of pissing someone off, or having an opinion opposite to a portion of your readership. As someone putting an option out there, you are an educator. Changing your output based on what people think of you is tantamount to self-betrayal, and betrayal of your message.

I’d encourage you to re-think this parameter, or offer a stepped progress for those who are first engaging the public, as well as those who have been ‘out there’ for some time.